Category: Food

One 13 hour car ride and a couple of scary drives up and down a mountain later, my husband tells me why he planned this trip to Tennessee. It was for breakfast.

Breakfast!

On my list of favorite meals of the day, breakfast has to be my least favorite. I’m allergic to egg whites so they’ve always made my stomach hurt after indulging in a delicious eggs Benedict or gooey egg sandwich and what’s breakfast without eggs.

One restaurant… 13 hour drive… cabin in the middle of nowhere with no cell signal or wi-fi… well water showers… this place had better be the best breakfast I had ever eaten in my life.

They had all your usual breakfast items, bacon, omelets, waffles, Oj. Nothing seemed too extraordinary. I ordered the country fried steak which came with hash browns, two eggs over easy, grits, a biscuit with gravy, and an Aretha Frankenstein pancake. Whatever that was.

My meal came to the table shortly in a cast iron pan. It looked and smelled amazing and I was ready to dig in. Then came the pancake. I wasn’t really sure if the item I was ogling was actually a pancake because it looked more like the texture of a regular slice. It was fluffy but grainy. Not at all like a traditional pancake should have been. I happily ate my skillet of deliciousness, not yet embarking on my pancake endeavor. Then I was ready. I like more savory than sweet meals so I was expecting to have just one bite of this pancake and move on.

NOPE

Every idea I had of what a pancake should be was thrown out the window (and rolled down the mountain we were on). It was like cornbread and a pancake had a baby and it was this heavenly, thick, savory-sweet, dessert that was deserving of all the awards that a breakfast item can get.

It was like I had been deprived my whole life of what a real breakfast could be like and now here I was, sitting on top of a mountain eating a pancake. Two things I never thought would happen at the same time. This was by far my favorite part of the trip. Is that ok? I think so.

Its been awfully chilly here in south Florida this week. 65 degrees is boot weather here. Everyone breaks out their winter clothes that they have vacuum sealed in a closet for the one week a year it gets kinda cold. I’ve seen lots of thigh high boots, big puffy sweaters, and even a couple of ear muffs at the bar this week. All of us warm blooded South Floridians trying to maintain our regular internal temperature of 100 degrees fahrenheit.

My favorite way to stay warm is with soup. Edward doesn’t understand the concept. He says its something like eating soggy food from a bowl of hot liquid. Which it actually is, but he has a weird thing about food textures so soup is out of the game for him. This means I have all the soups to myself.

Tomato soup is best served with a grilled cheese sandwich. Since I haven’t been able to find a soy free/coconut oil free sliced “cheese” product, please feel free to have one for me. With bacon. And a tomato. Nom nom nom.

Recipe disclaimer before you start reading the ingredients: YES that is how much garlic I used and they are regular sized garlic cloves. If you’re going to use elephant garlic obviously you’re going to use less (or more!) depending on how much garlic you like. In my opinion recipes are here as a guideline and you should modify them more to your liking if you so choose. BUT the chunky garlic really gives this soup the best texture and flavor.

Cut all the tomatoes in half and arrange on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper

Drizzle olive oil on tomatoes and pop in the oven for one hour

Once the tomatoes have baked for an hour, set the oven to broil for 15 minutes while keeping an eye on them so make sure they don’t over char. The point is to get a nice black crisp on top of most of the tomatoes.

Remove from oven once crispy

Cut the onion in half and toast in the oven for about 15 minutes on broil just to get it soft and warm

Once the tomatoes have cooled a bit, add them with the onion to a blender and blend until smooth

In a large pot you’re going to sauté the chopped garlic with olive oil on medium heat making sure not to over cook them but to get them nice and brown.

Add veggie stock to the pot with the garlic to warm

Combine tomato puree with the liquid in the pot

Season with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and parsley and let simmer for 30 minutes so all the flavors can meld.

Clean and trim asparagus spears. I just bend them at the bottom slightly until they naturally break apart. It’s about 1-2 inches from the bottom.

In a bowl season asparagus with salt and pepper and mix with balsamic vinaigrette.

Once totally coated wrap 4-5 spears with one slice of prosciutto

Bake on a sheet pan uncovered for 8-12 minutes until asparagus is bright green and prosciutto is crispy

Serve immediately

Notes: I generally use sauces that don’t have any refined sugars because I’m generally paleo, that’s why I use Tessemae’s brand. Feel free to use regular balsamic vinegar and olive oil instead if thats what you have on hand. I also like using prosciuto instead of bacon because it stays wrapped better and most bacons contain chemicals, sugars, and fats I dont care to eat. Saying that, you could totally use bacon instead but I think this is a fancier and healthier recipe.